Continuity and Change in German Politics Beyond the Politics of Centrality

Over three decades, Gordon Smith has written on almost every aspect of German politics. In this work, scholars use themes from his work in an examination of the evolution of the German polity in the face of socio-economic change, globalization, European integration and the domestic upheaval of unification. Chapters include Germany's place in the wider context of European politics, government and political leadership, part system change, political economy and political culture. Spanning the years from the era of Brandt and Schmidt to Schroder, the work presents a multifaceted portrait of Germany at the turn of the Millennium.

Over three decades Gordon Smith has written authoratively and with style on almost every aspect of German politics. In this volume, leading UK and German scholars use themes from his work in an examination of the evolution of German policy in the face of socio-economic change, globalisation, European integration, and the domestic upheaval of unification.

Introduction, Stephen Padgett and Thomas Poguntke; politics in Western Europe, Jack Hayward; democracy in Western Germany, Klaus von Beyne; eternal triangles - Britain, Germany and the future of Europe, William Paterson; the West German model revisisited, Kenneth Dyson; understanding party system change, Peter Mair; the German Volkspartei and the career of the Catch-All concept, Stephen Padgett; the greening of German politics, Thomas Poguntke; coalition behaviour - still the politics of centrality, Charlie Lees; the German Bundestag - majoritarian or consensual? Herbert Doring; the changing chancellorship - resources and constraints, Ludger Helms; changing perceptions of German federalism, Charlie Jeffrey; towards a new political culture? Eva Kolinsky; UK scholarship on German politics - a review, Klaus Goetz.